Trump says being called a fascist by Harris is her ‘deplorables’ moment

Donald Trump says that, by calling him a fascist, Kamala Harris has made the same mistake as Hillary Clinton in 2016 when she labelled his fans ‘deplorables.’

US comedian Tony Hinchcliffe speaks during a campaign rally for Donald Trump at Madison Square Garden. Picture: AFP

Donald Trump has accused the Democrats of running a “campaign of demonisation and hate,” declaring that he is the “opposite of a Nazi” after Kamala Harris labelled him a fascist and attacked the former president’s 20,000 strong rally in New York for fanning division.

After parallels were drawn between his Madison Square Garden extravaganza and a fascist event held at the same venue in 1939, Mr Trump suggested his Democratic rival was making the same mistake as Hillary Clinton in 2016 when she labelled his supporters “a basket of deplorables.”

Rallying in Atlanta on Monday evening (Tuesday AEDT) to try and secure the vital swing state of Georgia in what is looming as a nailbiting contest, Mr Trump told his supporters that “the newest line from Kamala and her campaign is that everyone who isn’t voting for her is a Nazi. We’re Nazis.”

“They use that word freely. Both words. They use it. ‘He’s Hitler. He’s a Nazi.’ I’m not a Nazi. I’m the opposite of a Nazi,” he said.

Mr Trump said the Democrats were “not running a campaign of solutions to save our country. Kamala is running a campaign of demonisation and hate … She’s a hater.”

The defence comes after Ms Harris last week branded her Republican rival a fascist in a town-hall event hosted by CNN as the former president’s longest serving chief-of-staff, John Kelly, gave damning interviews in which he claimed Mr Trump had spoken admiringly of Adolf Hitler.

Ms Harris is also expected to escalate her central claim that Mr Trump represents a threat to democracy on Tuesday evening (Wednesday AEDT) when she makes her closing argument in an address at the Ellipse in Washington DC – the same location where the former president spoke on January 6 2021 before protesters marched on the Capitol Building.

Mr Trump’s dismissal of the fascist parallels being made by Democrats came after his Madison Square Garden rally ignited a rush of criticism, including from some Republicans.

Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe drew the most condemnation for a poor joke likening Puerto Rico to a “floating pile of garbage” in the ocean. But he also took aim at Latinos more generally by saying that they “love making babies”.

Also addressing the rally, radio host Sid Rosenberg also likened Democrats to “jew-haters and low-lifes” while private Equity Fund Manager Grant Cardone referred to Ms Harris and “her pimp handlers” going on to destroy the country.

Mr Trump’s team quickly disowned the Hinchcliffe comments amid concerns the remarks could turn off the large Puerto Rican community in the key swing state of Pennsylvania which has 19 electoral college votes. Senior campaign adviser Danielle Alvarez said the Hinchcliffe joke did “not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign”

Data from the Centre for Puerto Rican studies reveals that, in 2021, there were 466,450 Puerto Ricans in Pennsylvania (with two thirds over 18-years-old). When Joe Biden flipped the state the year before in 2020, he won by only 80,555 votes.

Before boarding a plane to Michigan where she rallied at Ann Arbour on Monday evening (Tuesday AEDT), Ms Harris sought to link Mr Trump to the off-colour remarks at his New York rally.

“It is just more of the same, and maybe more vivid than usual,” she said. “Donald Trump spends full time trying to have Americans point their finger at each other, fans the fuel of hate and division.”

Senior Republicans including former Florida governor, Rick Scott, Florida congresswoman, María Elvira Salazar, and New York congressman, Anthony D’Esposito, also spoke out against the Hinchcliffe joke.

Mr Scott, a Republican Senator for Florida and former governor of the state, posted on social media that the joke was “not funny” and that Puerto Ricans were “amazing people and amazing Americans.”

Ms Salazar said the joke from Hinchcliffe was “racist” and did “not reflect GOP values”, while Mr D’Esposito posted that he was “proud to be Puerto Rican.”

On Sunday (Monday AEDT), Ms Harris outlined her own policy platform for Puerto Rico, declaring that she would “create a new Puerto Rico opportunity Economy Taskforce where the federal government will work with the private sector, with non-profits and community leaders to foster economic growth and create thousands of new, good paying jobs in Puerto Rico including for our young people.”

Hinchcliffe responded to the controversy after Ms Harris’ running mate Tim Walz labelled him a “jackwad,” by posting on social media.

“I love Puerto Rico and vacation there. I made fun of everyone,” Hinchcliffe said. “Watch the whole set. I’m a comedian Tim … might be time to change your tampon.”